The reason earmarks were banned in the first place was because they had gotten out of hand, with Congress spending taxpayers funds on bridges to nowhere, indoor rainforests and other such useless projects. The American people were fed up and demanded an end to wasteful spending.
Although earmarks only accounted for a small percentage of the federal budget, knowing that tax money was being frivolously wasted was an outrage. Returning to this practice will be no different.
Who knew?
Well, we did. You did. Everyone who’s not a tax-and-spend liberal did. But now the CBO knows. We are set to drive off the “fiscal” cliff in 4 months and 9 days, on January 1, 2013. The CBO has just figured this out. Better late than never, right?
The Hill reports what CBO has found:
A new report shows that the exorbitant amount of regulations is leading to a reduction in manufacturing output:
“Regulations on U.S. manufacturing may reduce output by as much as $500 billion this year, according to an industry-sponsored study that cast doubts on President Barack Obama’s efforts to trim red tape in the federal government.
“The Obama administration has established an average of 72 regulations on manufacturers annually, an increase from the 45 per year imposed under President George W. Bush, according to the study, commissioned by the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, based in Arlington, Virginia.
“‘It is imperative that the pace of new regulations be controlled and the cumulative burden of existing regulations be reduced,’ said the study, conducted by NERA Economic Consulting.”
Yeah, no kidding.
“In separate victory for the Romney campaign, language pertaining to wind energy tax credits was removed from the platform. Romney has bucked some members of his party by opposing the tax credits, arguing they run counter to free market principles.
“‘I don’t believe it was specifically mentioned,’ [platform chairman and Virginia Governor Bob] McDonnell said. ‘We did a broad embrace of ‘all of the above’ approach including renewables.’
“‘It’s not in there,’ added platform committee co-Chair [and Nebraska Senator] John Hoeven. ‘It’s again — trying to use all sources of energy with market-based principles.’”